Chapter 1: There's something strange about Emma
Ever since Emma Swan once entered Storybrooke with her son that she put into a closed adoption ten years ago, she knew everything was going to change. Ever since that night she arrived in Storybrooke she started to get hazy dreams, dreams that she would wish for to come true. Then when she saved Henry with True Love's kiss, things turned out to be blurry. No longer were her dreams hazy in a myriad of colors, they held some distinction for only a few seconds, but it was still blurry nonetheless. When she awoke the town everyone now held two parts of their memories of who they were, are. Now she knows that Storybrooke is truly a different town that exists that she ever knew about.
Storybrooke is a town where all the mythical legends, folklore, and fairy tales that you ever knew lived in this town, well most of them do. After saving the Evil Queen, who goes by Regina is also Henry's mom from being sucked into a wraith, she fell into the magical hat from the Mad Hatter, that turns out to be a portal alongside with her mother, who turns out to be Snow White in tow. Everything in her life had changed. Things are now overwhelming, she doesn't know how more she can take with more surprises that are coming left and right. She passes out unconscious and is being pulled into darkness, into a dream.
Young Emma Swan is seventeen years old is sleeping one minute and the next minute she's drowning in the ocean. She was shocked to say least of what has happened. She doesn't where she is or time when she gets pulled out of the ocean from a cute sailor who turns out to be a Lieutenant. She opens her eyes taking in with whom her rescuer is. Upon inspection from looking at him from top to bottom, he is gorgeous. With his boyish grin of a smile with dazzling deep blue eyes and the messy hair, he is cute.
Instantly Emma blushes. Stop thinking about him Emma, she tells herself. Stop thinking about him. Sure, he is cute and handsome who also happens to save your life. Please don't let this be a dream she thought. Don't let this moment end. With wishing and hoping that this is real, and she knows it's real but can't distinguish the reality of the situation of how is this possible. She sighs. With gaze still looking at the handsome man who seems to be a few years older than her, she realized she hadn't said or muttered a single word. You have to say something Emma, anything. Just stop blushing and say something! "Thank you for saving my life, umm?"
He grins again adorably, blushing as well as Emma did just a few moments ago. Then as he is about to say his name.
Emma was pulled out of darkness. She wakes up and the dream was gone. She was curious about her dream that is when she gets pulled back to reality as she takes in the setting.
As she woke up alongside with her mother, she looks frantically out to where exactly is she. With her mother now stirring up maybe they can get some answers. That is when Emma notices two other figures looming out in front of them, one of them is a female warrior that oddly reminds her from the Disney movie, Mulan while the other woman or princess, she does look like a princess with the tiara laying upon her head wearing a purple dress are sending murderous glances towards her and Mary Margaret, her mom, Snow White.
"Hello" Emma starts. "Can you tell us where we are and who you are? I'm Emma Swan and this is uhm my mom Mary Margaret or Snow White." She says not knowing what to say when it comes to her mom. She is still overwhelmed by that.
The female warrior looks suspiciously at her, not knowing who if she and this other woman next to her could be trusted. "I'm Mulan and this is Aurora and you're in the Enchanted Forest," Mulan says in a monotone voice. Then in a swift like a way of her movements she binds them together. Then pulls them apart and starts walking to the Safe Haven.
"What happened to the Enchanted Forest? I thought it was destroyed when the curse hit." Snow White said curiously.
"When the curse was coming for some odd reason it didn't hit the area I was in with the other civilians. When the curse came we were all protected, like there was a bubble and it moves just passed out around our heads. Everyone was stuck there for who knows how long until the curse was weakening and when that was happening the ogres came back to the lands. We are heading to that land that we call Safe Haven. Now no more questions and no more talking until we get there. Do you understand that?" Mulan says hoping they're satisfied as she stomps away.
Then the quiet builds on as the four of them go to Safe Haven.
Once they have reached Safe Haven, one foot in Emma and Mary Margaret tried to escape. Well, Mary Margaret had an idea and went for it telling her daughter to run and ends up unconscious. The guards send them to the pit. Then Emma talks to the other prisoner there who turns out to be Regina's mother, Cora who turns out to be the Queen of hearts. Her moth- no Mary Margaret starts to wake up and instantly protect her.
Can't her life get any more surprising she thought? Probably this is the best time to believe that everything that's going in her life currently, she should start believing everything that supposed to be not real is real. She can try but if she were to believe that then she needs to accept that her dreams are not really dreams. Okay, Emma, that's enough thinking for the day. So, stop thinking and start worrying how are you going back to Henry who lives in a whole different realm, back to Storybrooke. Then her and Mary Margaret were requested to an audience with the leader the voice says who also brought a climbing rope.
Once they were back on top, all be it for only a few seconds, Mary Margaret looked up at him and in an instant, she flashed to his open arms. She shouted Lancelot as he hugged back. Then Lancelot says that "if had he known they were the prisoners Mulan had brought back then he never would have locked them away, asking for their forgiveness." She provides it, while Emma questions, "Lancelot? Really?" Okay Emma really stops thinking, stop thinking, you promised yourself that you're done with thinking of the whole day. But seriously she wondered quickly how is this possible, how do these fairy tales, folklores have crossed over to other stories as she saw Mary Margaret greeting him back as an old friend. While Mary Margaret assures that he's an old friend and that they can trust him.
After the quick reunion of Mary Margaret and Lancelot, Lancelot led them to a table that's covered with food. When Emma takes a quick look of the food that plastered there, she starts to get a headache as one of the strange meats she saw looks at is strangely familiar as she naturally put a part of that into her plate. Emma shrugged off as if this was natural to her-which Lancelot explained that's chimera which has an acquired taste. He also explained that it's one-part lion, one-part serpent and one-part goat. When she took a bite of the chimera, it brought back a familiar sense of taste as if she had eaten a chimera before.
As Emma eats Snow White makes the plan to back home with Lancelot's help, before that as Snow White knew she had already mentioned this to Mulan she wanted to get a confirmation as to what happened to the land. Seemingly Mulan was telling the truth as Lancelot told quite a similar story but also adds a few more details in. When Snow White asks him if he can find a portal with them but tells them leaving the Enchanted Forest is not safe anymore especially since the ogres returned, as Mulan also told them as well.
"Wait are Ogres the kind of creatures where legend says that when you get killed from an ogre, the last thing you see is yourself dying in their eyes?" Emma unexpectedly says while another headache came in.
"Emma, how did you know that?" her mother asked, curious how she knew about ogres. But what's even stranger is that Emma ate a chimera, like she knew what it was. Then she turns to really look at her daughter as she puts a hand on her head. "Emma are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, it's only a headache." Emma says while her mother was still curious still she didn't push it further and looking at her daughter inquisitively like she's saying, 'are you sure'. "Really. It's nothing, Mary Margaret okay, I'm fine. It's just a headache."
When that was over, Mary Margaret decided to keep a close on eye on her daughter if this happens again. She will keep in track of Emma's bizarre nature towards the Enchanted Forest. Now how are they going to return home? "So, Lancelot, I think I may have found a way to get me and Emma back home to our loved ones. However, I won't voice about where we're going because I still don't trust being in the same vicinity as Cora, even though she's in the pit and that she may or may not still have her own magic."
"If that is your best bet to get back home then I will help. While I'm still not coming with you two, you can, however, take the best warrior we have here whom you've already met," as he brings out his hand towards Mulan beckoning her to come over, "she will you to safely get back to your castle." Lancelot says.
"Deal." Snow White says.
As the deal was made between Lancelot and Snow White, Mulan led Emma and Snow White towards a trunk with weapons inside. When the trunk was open Snow White instantly got a bow and arrow along with a sword on a belt. While Emma got her gun back and found another sword on a belt. When they were prepared with their weapons as they've chosen is attached to them. The three of them started to walk.
"So where are we going?" Emma says.
"Well, Emma do you want to see where you're from?" Snow says while Emma's eyes widened when she picked it up fast. "That's right we're going home. We're going to check if the wardrobe is still there, maybe we can go back to Storybrooke through that."
"Wait as in The Wardrobe. The Wardrobe that sent baby me to Maine. That Wardrobe?" Emma says unbelievably shocked.
"Yes Emma, that wardrobe."
Then the three of them makes headway towards their journey. As time drew on they made a designated spot that was a good spot to camp at. Then they went to find water and to find firewood to cut into. As the night comes and Snow starts to build a fire, she was grabbed from behind with a dagger at her throat with a voice that says" Don't move. Phillip is gone because of you." Snow then defended herself sending the mysterious women floored onto the grass. The mysterious woman turns out to be Aurora.
Then Snow leans over her, pinning Aurora down, and tells her to listen, asking if she thinks she doesn't know what it feels like to be separated from the people that she loves. She exclaims that what happened to Phillip was not her and Emma's fault, so she suggests to finds another way to channel her anger somewhere else. When Mulan sees this, she orders Mary Margaret not to talk to Aurora like that, pulling her off her friend. The elementary school teacher then exclaims that Aurora tried to kill her, and, as she helps the latter get to her feet, Mulan assures that she will deal with her. Then Emma shows up shouting to them, "if you won't solve this issue then I will shoot a warning shot with my gun here! I'm not kidding here okay unless you want the freaking giants to show up! Everyone clears on that! Okay."
But no more than a few seconds, the ogres found them. Seems that Ogres have good hearing, Emma thought, with or without a gunshot ringing off. Then Aurora and Mulan ran as fast as she could while Emma stayed there and fought with her knowing what she was doing, even though she doesn't even know how she remembers, maybe it's muscle memory as Emma fought the ogre with her mom helping her and killing the ogre by using her bow and arrow that's targeted at the eye killing it instantly.
Then feeling her mother's eyes on her knowing what she was about to ask she says, "Don't say anything." Emma starts catching her breath, "I don't how that happened, but it happened okay. I don't even know how to use the sword. Now let's just say its muscle memory okay." Then her mom nodded, agreeing with her, feeling too dazed herself of what just happened as they go together to find Mulan and Aurora.
When they've reunited with Mulan and Aurora, they've all agreed that since they were close Snow's kingdom, they would continue their journey to the castle. When they were all close to the castle, with the castle in the distance you can instantly tell there was damage, looking from afar. Then when they went into the castle with Snow being a natural leader as a queen, they all went in what was supposed to be Emma's room, her nursery. Inside the nursery, it looked a storm when inside of it, literally, and it was a room that is messy and disregarded. Then Snow was talking about the what-ifs, talking about Emma's supposed future, how her life could've been, and the funny thing now was that Emma could have thought of how her life would've been. While that was happening Mulan and Aurora both left the nursery, feeling and knowing this is a private moment for Snow and Emma. Then Emma could see it, in human flesh, how it would've been like to grow up in this room, being a princess, but she couldn't think about this anymore. Instead, she just says, "We have a family, in Storybrooke," Emma reminds her mother before saying that right now they need them to get back to them. "So, how do we get this to work?" Emma asks, gesturing towards the magical wardrobe.
"Well," as Mary Margaret begins to answer Emma's question, "we'll have to get it to the island first and then hope someone there has enough magic to make it work."
"How about if it doesn't work?" Emma asks.
"Then we'll cross that bridge if the situation comes up."
"So how are we going to get this out and then carry it?" Emma asks.
Then a familiar voice replies, "With the help of an old friend." Lancelot has entered the room, and Snow asks him what he's doing there. He explains that he heard about the ogre attack and had to make sure they were alright, and Snow wonders the whereabouts of Mulan and Aurora. Lancelot says that he sent them to find food, for tonight they'll set up camp and tomorrow they'll get back. "So, this is it," he adds, looking at the wardrobe. Snow says that it's the same one Emma went through allowing her to skip the curse, which Lancelot finds remarkable. The former princess further explains that Geppetto carved it out of an enchanted tree, but there's no magic left. Lancelot believes that there must be another way to recharge a portal so powerful, leading Mary Margaret to wonder why he's so interested. Even though Mary Margaret is now suspicious of her dear friend, Emma feels like ever since Lancelot came into the room, she can't but help that he's been acting superstitious. Emma knows that something is wrong, she can't help of what it is but as she thinks about it, she gets another freaking headache of the day.
That is until Lancelot says "Well, I just want you to be home with your husband... and son, Henry. They must miss you," he says. Snow quickly draws her sword and aims it at Lancelot, telling Emma to stay away from him for he is not who he says he is. Then everything clicks to Emma. "Cora..." Emma recalls, watching as Lancelot becomes enveloped by purple smoke and Cora stands where he once was, having used magic to disguise herself. Then Snow advances on the woman with her sword but Cora creates a bubble of purple magic from her hand and uses it to stop Snow and lift her, throwing her across the room, pinning her up against the wall. Emma tried to run to her mother's aid but Cora swishes one arm and is knocked off her feet. With Snow pinned on the wall and choking. Emma is stirring up, silently stands up and takes the place of what's going around her and makes a choice to help her mother, she takes out her gun and removes all the bullets, holding them in her palm, cracks open a bullet and pours gunpowder from the inside all over the base of the wardrobe. Then she got Cora's attention and puts her plan to action.
Emma exclaims that Cora will never meet Henry, rubbing a shard against the metal of her gun to create a spark which sets the gunpowder alight. "No!" Cora yells, discarding Snow; she uses magic to launch the fire in the form of a fireball at Emma; however, Mulan dives in and blocks the attack with her sword, returning it to the wardrobe and allowing it to keep on burning. With no where to go as Cora looks around, trying to think to what she's going to do with the wardrobe, she flees, leaving a purple smoke by. With the sparks still fuming Emma and Snow look at it and are thinking of what they are going to do now, Emma says "tomorrow." With her friend turned mother she nods her head as well, "we'd a long day, come on let's go to our camping site and sleep. We'll figure out everything tomorrow."